Wood doesn’t fear free-scoring City

The Premier League champions put seven past Championship side Rotherham in the third round of the FA Cup and beat Burton Albion 10-0 in a two-legged Carabao Cup semi-final.

The Clarets take on Pep Guardiola’s side in the fourth round of the FA Cup at the Etihad tomorrow on the back of a five-game unbeaten run.

And that’s given the New Zealand international hope. He said: “There’s never a free hit in these games. There’s always a chance, it’s the cup, they’ll make changes, we’ll make a few changes but we’ll go out there to win the game.

“We know they’re a quality side and they can do that to anybody. They can do it to a Premier League side, score six or seven past them.

“It doesn’t matter that they’ve scored so many goals, we’ve just got to try and nullify their strengths and capitalise on their weaknesses.”

City, who have netted 24 times across the board since last conceding, certainly have more strengths than weaknesses.

The Citizens have scored the most goals this term, more than 100 in all competitions, they’ve made the most passes in the top flight with 16,258, Leroy Sane and Raheem Sterling are in the top five for assists and Sergio Aguero is the fourth highest scorer in the division.

“You have to relish these games,” said Wood. “These are the ties you want to play in. They’re the best games in the world and they’re what you dream of as a kid. You have to relish them, enjoy them and have fun. We’ll see where that gets us.

“It’s always good and you always want to keep the dream going. A few of the boys have been to the final but never won it. Hopefully one day a few of us boys can get there with this team, which would be lovely.”